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breakfastgrey's review
4.0
If nothing else, I love that some of my favorite characters and eras from DC are getting new life through DC Ink. I miss Oracle. I miss Cassandra Batgirl. It's awesome to see them both here and the story itself is sweet with expressive art. I'm glad to see these books moving away from the minimalist color palette, too. My one complaint is that the books all stand alone in their own isolated continuity. I would've loved if this Oracle had anything to do with the Oracle from the other book, but I think that defeats the purpose of the plan here. These are meant to stand apart from any established continuity.
tessaf's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.0
Feels like there's a certain level of suspension of disbelief when it come to how quickly she adapted (but I suspect that is the case for any iteration of this character). Liked the art. Nice, basic story.
lillanaa's review
4.0
I love anything to do with Cass's mythos and this was a fun and interesting take on it, the art is great and the characterization tracks to everything I've read, you can definitely tell Kuhn is a fan! This was fantastic for a character introduction (if you want a more full one, I always recommend Batman and Robin Eternal) in brief, and having Barbara in her backstory still makes a world of sense. My only real nitpick is how quickly things seemed to resolve with regards to the disability representation, Cass's difficulties with speaking and reading are a fairly core part of her character, and it seems to be glossed past quickly. Anyone who isn't interested in the backstory and cares more about the action won't really care, but it's always disappointing that writers never seem to be able to figure anything around it and either write it out or brush through for ease. I understand the focus here is put more in her heritage for her representation, and that's also a phenomenal thing, but it puts a slight damper.
crochetchrisie's review
4.0
Interesting. I knew nothing of Cassandra Cain as Batgirl so I was interested to read this. It was entertaining and cute. I liked the main point of the 'hero as a choice' idea and that it was hard for her to get past her instincts.
rakoerose's review
4.0
What a gorgeous graphic novel this is! I was so excited to see this new version of Cass.
“But this observational power you have, it’s — well. A power.”
“It’s just... the way I am.”
I, before reading this, only knew of Cassandra Cain in passing. I hadn’t read any other DC comics featuring her but she’s always intrigued me as a standout figure in the batfam. (Honestly, I haven’t read much of the DC batfam outside of Dick, so, my apologies!) She brings a lot of diversity and intrigue into the mix, with great Chinese representation!
This reimagining is less batfam (aka less Batman) and more focused on her. Watching her explore newfound revelations and the difficulty of transitioning to “normal” aspects of life. She’s not infantilized by those around her at all which I really enjoyed. They could have easily been accidentally portrayed as talking down to her and I’m glad that wasn’t the case.
Barbara is there to be the shadow Cass wants to follow, and she also provides great messages about not being stuck in who you were. She helped echo a lot of the main themes Cass’s story was telling, hammering it all home just that extra mile.
Add in the fantastic, textured style this is drawn in? Stunning. This was one of those situations where I was glad to be reading a digital copy so I could zoom, especially with all the details in the library. A lot of love and work went into this, wowza. Imagining the time it took makes my brain want to combust.
I highly recommend this for Batgirl fans, and especially to younger potential-fans who aren’t ready for the gritty main DC lines. It was a really wonderful, heartwarming experience!
“But this observational power you have, it’s — well. A power.”
“It’s just... the way I am.”
I, before reading this, only knew of Cassandra Cain in passing. I hadn’t read any other DC comics featuring her but she’s always intrigued me as a standout figure in the batfam. (Honestly, I haven’t read much of the DC batfam outside of Dick, so, my apologies!) She brings a lot of diversity and intrigue into the mix, with great Chinese representation!
This reimagining is less batfam (aka less Batman) and more focused on her. Watching her explore newfound revelations and the difficulty of transitioning to “normal” aspects of life. She’s not infantilized by those around her at all which I really enjoyed. They could have easily been accidentally portrayed as talking down to her and I’m glad that wasn’t the case.
Barbara is there to be the shadow Cass wants to follow, and she also provides great messages about not being stuck in who you were. She helped echo a lot of the main themes Cass’s story was telling, hammering it all home just that extra mile.
Add in the fantastic, textured style this is drawn in? Stunning. This was one of those situations where I was glad to be reading a digital copy so I could zoom, especially with all the details in the library. A lot of love and work went into this, wowza. Imagining the time it took makes my brain want to combust.
I highly recommend this for Batgirl fans, and especially to younger potential-fans who aren’t ready for the gritty main DC lines. It was a really wonderful, heartwarming experience!
thebookishunicorn's review
5.0
Wonderful story of figuring out who you are and what you want to be. I loved how this was Batman adjacent, you don't need to know much about Batman to understand and enjoy the story! This is full of heart and wonderful characters, wish we were getting more!
ringringringer's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
howdyellie's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A must read for anyone wanting to get into Cassandra Cain's character. It's not my favorite rendition of her beginnings as Batgirl, but it was a nice read nonetheless. It's also nice that it wasn't Batman centric!
megnut's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mythos05's review
3.0
3/5 stars
I have mixed feelings about this comic. While I love how they focused on Cassandra's relationship with Barbara, there were other components that weren't as good. This is not one of my favorite backstories that was given to Cassandra, but it does keep some of the same components as other origin stories have. This story does a good job of showing her guilt and how she evolves from it. Although I hate how her mutism is fixed rather easily, almost as if it were glossed over. I also thought it was weird how they omitted showing a lot of transition scenes of Barbara using her wheelchair (this is just something I noticed, not really a problem). Other than that, I really liked how they also focused on her developing relationship with Jackie, who acted like her mother. It was a rather interesting and sweet story otherwise. It's good for a quick read that can help you understand Cassandra's character better.
I have mixed feelings about this comic. While I love how they focused on Cassandra's relationship with Barbara, there were other components that weren't as good. This is not one of my favorite backstories that was given to Cassandra, but it does keep some of the same components as other origin stories have. This story does a good job of showing her guilt and how she evolves from it. Although I hate how her mutism is fixed rather easily, almost as if it were glossed over. I also thought it was weird how they omitted showing a lot of transition scenes of Barbara using her wheelchair (this is just something I noticed, not really a problem). Other than that, I really liked how they also focused on her developing relationship with Jackie, who acted like her mother. It was a rather interesting and sweet story otherwise. It's good for a quick read that can help you understand Cassandra's character better.